Commercially available bath tissues generally fall into either of two categories. One of the categories is the premium segment, where softness is a major characteristic. The softness is at least partially due to high stretch and sheet caliper, which tend to impart a “cushiony” feel. A disadvantage of these premium products is that the number of sheets that can be wound on a roll of bath tissue is limited by the caliper of the sheets. This is because the average bath tissue dispenser can only accommodate rolls of bath tissue having a roll diameter of about 5 inches or less. Simply increasing the sheet count on a roll of premium tissue would result in a roll that is too large in diameter to fit within the average bath tissue dispenser. Alternatively, more sheets could be added to the roll by increasing the winding tension as the roll is wound, but this would remove stretch and reduce the sheet caliper and consequently reduce the softness of the product. As a result, products in the premium category typically have sheet counts of about 600 sheets per roll or less.
The other category is the value segment, which provides a large number of sheets per roll. The number of sheets per roll for bath products in this category is typically about 1000, but the sheets are characterized by low stretch and low bulk and hence exhibit lower softness than the premium products.
Hence there is a need for a bath tissue product that provides more sheets per roll than the premium segment products, but provides a comparably soft product.